South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Plaintiff Eva Meyerson, 52, an insurance broker, went to a Walgreens to fill a prescription for an anti-depressant, Serizone. However, Walgreens filled the prescription with an anti-schizophrenic called Seraquil. Meyerson took a dose of the Seraquil and claimed that it caused major cognitive defects.Meyerson sued Walgreen Co. for negligence. She originally sued the maker of Serizone, contending its sound-alike-name to Seraquil made such mistakes possible, but they were dismissed by the plaintiff pretrial.Walgreens admitted to the medication mix-up and the trial was held on damages only.

Meyerson’s lawyers contended that taking the medication left her with permanent cognitive damages. Her expert neuropsychologist, Glenn Caddy, testified that the damage was permanent and a direct result of the medication. Meyerson’s lawyers contended that her symptoms resembled symptomology that arose during FDA drug testing Seraquil.

Meyerson’s symptoms included loss of short- and long-term memory, and the inability to engage in abstract or complex thinking. Her life partner testified that Meyerson was unable to perform tasks like balancing her checkbook and managing her financial affairs after taking the medication. She also testified that Meyerson, in general, had trouble functioning and would sometimes wander off.

Meyerson’s vocational rehabilitation expert, Larry Foreman, testified that Meyerson was unable to work for the rest of her life. The defense contended that not only was Meyerson unable to work, her partner was forced to quit her job to become a full-time caregiver. Meyerson’s economist, David Williams, testified that the couple had more than $5 million in economic losses from the lost income and attendant care.

Meyerson was also seeking an unspecified amount for pain and suffering.

The defense contended that the medication could not have caused permanent injuries.

The defense’s expert toxicologist, William George, testified that the Seraquil did not cause any permanent brain injury and would have at most only affected Meyerson for a few days. The defense’s expert neuropsychologist, Sally Kolitz-Russel, testified that not only did the Seraquil not cause any permanent brain damage, but testing suggested that Meyerson may have been faking the permanency of the injury or suffering from an underlying psychological condition. The defense’s FDA drug trial expert, Judith Jones, testified that while Meyerson’s symptoms could be compared to symptoms found in the FDA testing, that those symptoms only lasted a few days and were not permanent.

The jury found for Walgreens

A coal train crashed into a sport utility vehicle crossing the tracks Monday, killing three people and injuring a fourth, officials said.The crash occurred around 7:45 a.m. at the main railroad crossing in Marissa, about 40 miles southwest of St. Louis, Canadian National Railway Co. spokesman Jim Kvedaras said.

“According to the conductor, the driver made no attempt to stop and drove into the path of the train,” said Marissa Police Chief Michael Kerperien.

A 43-year-old woman, her daughter, and two other girls were in the SUV en route to Marissa Junior/Senior High School, Kerperien said.

The woman, her daughter and one of the other girls were pronounced dead at the scene. The injured girl was taken to a hospital in St. Louis, he said. A hospital spokesman would not release details, citing the child’s age and privacy laws.

A school bus carrying high school students veered off an interstate and crashed below an overpass Monday, killing at least two students and causing numerous injuries, school officials said.

Keith Ward, a spokesman for Huntsville city schools, confirmed that at least two students died. More than than 30 students were aboard the bus when it plunged off I-565, with most either taken to hospitals or treated at the scene.

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy,” said Gov. Bob Riley.

Huntsville police spokesman Wendell Johnson said 23 students were taken to hospitals.

“Huntsville has never seen an accident like this,” Johnson said.

Ward said the bus went off the I-565 overpass and crashed about 30 feet below the roadway.

Ambulances took the injured to Huntsville Hospital and Crestwood Medical Center.

Ward said the bus was transporting Lee High School students who attend the Center for Technology in Huntsville, where students can receive special science and math credits. He said he assumed the bus was leaving the center when the wreck occurred.

There was no immediate word on what may have caused the bus to plunge off the interstate in downtown Huntsville, a north Alabama city that is home to Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal.

Some dog owners are a breed unto themselves. They pamper their dogs and lavish them with affection, and their dogs love them back.Unfortunately, not all pet owners are responsible, and not all dogs are lovable. Some are vicious, so vicious that they attack and kill people like 76-year-old Lillian Loraine Stiles. Mrs. Stiles was riding her lawnmower in her front yard, on her own property, when six mixed-breed dogs attacked and killed her.

There is no leash law in Milam County where Mrs. Stiles was killed, so the dogs’ owner could not be held criminally liable for her death. After Mrs. Stiles’ tragic death, her sisters, Bobbie Treuthardt and Mary Hill, both of whom live in Senate District 25, came to my San Antonio district office and asked me to strengthen Texas’ dog bite laws.

Currently, owners are responsible for their dog’s actions only if the owner knows the dog has previously bitten or attacked someone and has been determined to be a “dangerous dog.” I believe Texas should do away with the “one free bite” law.

Dog owners would be held responsible in a bill that I plan to introduce when the Texas Legislature convenes in regular session in 2007. While the language of the bill is still being determined, one thing is certain - the bill will not target a specific breed of dog.

I don’t care if the dog is a cocker spaniel or a pit bull; if it is not provoked and attacks someone, its owner should be held responsible. If the dog kills a person, it should be destroyed and its owner tried and punished.

Under the bill’s provisions, an unprovoked dog attack would be classified as a Class B misdemeanor. Should serious bodily injury or death occur, the offense would be a third-degree felony.

A new study indicates that high dosages of a popular drug used for the treatment of anemia in cancer and dialysis patients may raise the risk of heart complications and death.

According to researchers, these findings suggest that epoetin—sold under the brand names Epogen, Aranesp, Procrit, and Eprex—are being routinely overused, risking the health of patients.

Study Findings

The study evaluated patients suffering from anemia and kidney disease. Researchers split the participants into two groups. The first group received as much epoetin necessary to fully treat their anemia—a shortage of red blood cells linked to shortness of breath and fatigue.

The second group was able to remain slightly more anemic and received lower doses of the drug. The study found that the participants in the first group had a 34 percent increased chance of suffering serious hearth problems and death compared to those in the second group.

According to the study’s lead author and associate professor at Harvard Medical School Dr. Ajay Singh, the results of their research should encourage medical professionals to be less aggressive when treating anemia patients.

Since the early 1990s, the amount of epoetin administered to an American anemic patient has almost tripled and the death rate in the United States is higher than in Europe, where patients are given lower doses.

Dr. Singh says that the easiest way to lower injury and death among patient receiving epoetin is to lessen the doses.

Currently, nearly one million patients are prescribed the anemia drug every year.

Plaintiff’s decedent Margaret Stanley, 92, was a patient under the care of The Clairmont Nursing Home in Tyler. On Aug. 22, 2002, Clairmont staff noticed that fire ants were present in Stanley’s room and called the home’s regular exterminator, Keith Brown, doing business as National Exterminators. Brown arrived to spray Stanley’s room for ants the following day at about noon.That evening at approximately 6:15 p.m., Stanley’s daughter, plaintiff Gail Debenport, arrived at The Clairmont to visit her mother. She entered Stanley’s room and found a nursing aide removing Stanley’s food tray. Hearing her mother moaning and groaning, Debenport approached her bed to check on her. She saw ants on Stanley’s pillows and brushed them away. When she then reached down to hug her mother, she saw that Stanley’s right arm and shoulder were covered with ants.Stanley died in February 2003.Contending that Stanley’s death was caused by ant bites, Debenport and her brother sued Brown and The Clairmont, alleging negligence. In March 2005, they settled with The Clairmont for $350,000.

The plaintiffs alleged that Brown failed to use proper pest control chemicals, failed to use proper equipment and failed to use proper pest control procedures for fire ant infestation in that he did not completely seal off Stanley’s room, nor did he have a proactive fire ant prevention program in place. They further claimed Brown had failed to treat a spot behind the curtain along a baseboard, which allowed ants to get into the room in the first place. Plaintiffs also alleged gross negligence based on Brown’s admission that he was addicted to methamphetamine and that at the time of the incident he used the drug on weekends.

Defense counsel argued that Brown had been an exterminator for The Clairmont for five years, and the nursing home never had fire ants anywhere in the building during that time. In addition, the nursing home administrator testified in a deposition that Brown was providing the same pest control treatments that he had seen other pest control operators perform in the many other nursing homes in which he had worked, and prior to this incident he never had any concerns about the way Brown performed his job.

Furthermore, Brown’s counsel placed the blame on the nursing home, arguing that the home took poor care of Stanley. For instance, Stanley’s roommate regularly hoarded food in her bed and threw it on the floor between her bed and Stanley’s, and that the nursing home had allowed this to continue to the point that a large stain had developed on the carpet between the beds. Additionally, the nursing home staff found ants in the roommate’s bed the day before ants were discovered on Stanley, yet neither Stanley nor her roommate were removed from the room at that time. Moreover, counsel argued that when Debenport discovered the ants on her mother, the nursing home aide in the room removing a food tray from Stanley failed to notice hundreds of ants on Stanley’s right arm and shoulder.

Plaintiffs sought damages for conscious pain and suffering, mental anguish, impairment, and deterioration of functional conditioning suffered by Stanley prior to death, and for the reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred because of the ant bites. Additionally, plaintiffs sought exemplary damages for Brown’s alleged gross negligence.

Plaintiff’s counsel alleged that Stanley’s ant bites caused her to develop a blood clot in her lungs, contributed to her decreased mental capacity over the six months before she died, and generally contributed to the overall deterioration in her overall health, including her mental capacity. Stanley died from hypozemia at the age of 92.

Defense expert Dr. Robert Bux testified that testified that Stanley’s condition was likely caused by a complication from a hip surgery Stanley had two weeks before the ant infestation. Stanley had also suffered a series of mini-strokes before the infestation, which could explain her diminished mental capacity, Bux opined.

The jury allocated 15 percent liability to Brown and 85 percent liability to The Clairmont, awarding the plaintiffs $5,000.

An Air Canada flight en route to Vancouver from Shanghai made an emergency landing at Tokyo’s Narita airport after encountering turbulence, and four people were injured, officials said.The incident Sunday night came hours after a Japanese domestic airliner separately experienced turbulence over western Japan, injuring two people on board.

Air Canada Flight 38 landed safely at Narita International Airport night.

Four of the 11 cabin attendants, all Canadians, were injured when the Boeing 767 hit turbulence about an hour after leaving Shanghai, said airport police official Masatoshi Uchiumi.

The four were mostly scratched and bruised, and none of the flight’s 186 passengers were hurt, Uchiumi said. Kyodo News agency had earlier reported that five passengers and crew members were hurt.

Uchiumi said he did not have details of how the four crew members were injured. Officials were inspecting the aircraft.

Earlier Sunday, a Tokyo-bound Japan Airlines domestic flight ran into turbulence, injuring a cabin attendant and a passenger before landing safely at Haneda Airport as scheduled.

JAL Flight 1348, carrying 373 passengers and 11 crew from Kobe, 435 kilometers (270 miles) west of Tokyo, unexpectedly hit rough air just as it reached cruising altitude near Itami City about half an hour into the flight, said airline spokesman Kenji Okuyama.

One passenger smashed against the overhead storage compartment and cut his forehead when he tried to stand up just as the Boeing 777 hit turbulence and lost altitude, Okuyama said.

The flight had been smooth and the seat belt signs had been turned off before the sudden turbulence, he said.

A new report analyzing the rate of hospital-acquired infections shines a spotlight on one of the countries deadly and hidden problems.

This week, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council revealed the number of hospital infections and deaths that occurred in 2005 in 168 of the state’s hospitals.

This move marks the first time ever that state residents are able to find out the rate of infection at their local hospitals, leading to a national push to give patients the facts they need to compare healthcare services.

“We commend the [cost containment council] for shining a light on a problem that has lingered for far too long,” said Lisa McGiffert of the Consumer’s Union.

Report Findings

Last year, the state of Pennsylvania required all hospitals to report “hospital-acquired” infections and found an average of 12.2 infections for every 1,000 patients in 2005.

The report also revealed that those patients who developed an infection spent, on average, an additional three weeks in the hospital, racking up healthcare costs of $185,260.

Patients who never acquired an infection typically stayed in the hospital for only five days and were charged around $31,389. Furthermore, about 12 percent of patients who got infections in hospitals died compared to only 2.3 percent who weren’t infected.

According to the report, the rate of infection and death varied widely in Pennsylvania hospitals. The council urges patients to utilize the report to ask hospitals questions about their infection-related illness rates and control programs.

Medical experts believe that hospitals could take a number of steps to significantly reduce infections, including proper sterilization, hand washing, and other proper procedures.

The council hopes this report will improve infection-control efforts both in the state and nationwide.